Jesus: The God Who Orders Chaos For Life
I only made notes for this sermon as life got away from me and I never had time to write the full manuscript.
Today, Jesus walks on water and calms a storm. Both are amazing acts that tell us about Jesus’ power over the natural world. But they are more than that. They are pointing us to the fact that Jesus is the same God who ordered everything at creation. He is the one who brought order to the chaos, so that life could flourish. This may not feel like it, but this is an immensely practical thing for our life today. The world and our lives can feel like they are surrounded by chaos, with wars raging, volatile arguments, divergent thinkers and leaders, and so many more everyday things. We need God to bring order to the chaos. We need order so that we might find life.
I want to take a quick journey through Scripture to see why this is so important.
Ordering the chaotic waters at creation
The leviathan
Power over both the waters above and the waters below
Order for life
The return to chaos in the flood
A vessel for salvation
Deliverance through the waters for Israel and Moses
Surrounded on all sides
The parting of the sea
The staff
And the human action
Chaos consuming
The crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land
Entry through the chaos
Baptism
Washing
Death into a new life
Annointing
Fishermen
Bring people out of the chaos
Finally, Revelation the dragon coming up out of the water
Coming out of the water trying to draw us back into chaos
To today’s reading
W might be riding our ship alone
But Jesus walks over the chaos beside us
Instantaneous arrival
Were they already there?
Our place
Our little boats
Watch for Jesus
Walk on the water
Part it
Order it
Trust God in midst of it
Notice chaos is a foil for humanity but not for God - God always overcomes chaos with order
Children’s story - Even the best thing when chaotic is not good - we need order
An upside down metal bowl - A flipping metal bowl - or a stable right side up bowl
We, humans, are most meant to be this bowl for God,
but everything else is meant to carry him too.
When anything is acting out chaos it no longer can hold him
Sometimes the world can feel a little chaotic. With wars raging, numerous oppositional voices yelling at each other, work, family, and life demands, and not having enough, even with too many good things happening it can feel like there is so much that we can't handle it.
We can feel like the disciples in this Sunday's reading rowing a small boat amid a massive storm. In this 5th miracle, we see Jesus walking on top of the chaotic waters and suddenly calming both the waters above and the waters below. In this amazing act Jesus immediately ties himself to our creator delivering God, ultimately Jesus shows us that he is bigger than all of the chaos, ordering it so that we might have life. Join us this Sunday to hear about Jesus ordering our chaos.
